Stockholm man charged with welfare fraud

The Stockholm man who occupied the trailer property where the bodies of an elderly couple were discovered has been jailed on welfare fraud charges.

Robert Bartlett Jr., 42, of 733 May Road, was charged Monday night by state police with three counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and one count of third-degree welfare fraud, all felonies.

He was taken from Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, Ogdensburg, where he was undergoing a mental health evaluation, to Fowler Town Court for arraignment before Judge Paul M. Lamson. He was sent to the St. Lawrence County jail, Canton, on $20,000 cash bail.

Two weeks ago, an investigation into possible welfare fraud turned into a search for the bodies of 82-year-old Betty D. Babcock and her 84-year-old husband, Alvin S. The bodies were exhumed from the May Road property on March 21 and 24 and positively identified as those of the Babcocks.

Relatives of the Babcocks have said Mr. Bartlett used to live with the couple. The investigation into the deaths continues, District Attorney Mary E. Rain said Monday night.

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